Page 123 of Till Death Do Us Part

She’d been wound tighter than usual lately, he’d said. Whatever had been moving closer to her had arrived. He’d walked her to her apartment, and the entire time she kept looking over her shoulder. I was en route to Roma, so we both decided to head there. I wasn’t taking any chances when it came to my wife’s safety.

Fredo was with her, to deal with Alfonso, but this was a different situation. Cassio said from the research he’d done, this cult blew powder that had the potency to knock over a bull.

Roma worked at the museum with Ms. Lang. Whoever was after her might think Roma was in on it too. There was no fucking telling.

I’d called Fredo and told him to be on higher alert. I ordered him to only open the door for us. We’d be there in a few minutes. We had more men with us. We knew something was wrong when a dazed looking girl ran out of the Chens’ restaurant, swaying. She was mumbling to herself.

We knew the shit they used could knock us out, so we covered our faces. We tore the motherfucker apart, but it was too late. My wife was on the floor, out of it, and Ms. Lang had been badly beaten.

This fucking place brought back memories for me too. My wife had been here twice before this time, and all three times had me close to losing my mind. What was left of it.

Cassio sighed. “I’m going to take Elsa to my ma’s. Her parents can’t take care of her. She doesn’t have any siblings. And this is worse than the car incident. The Chens don’t blame her, but they’re older and worried. Can’t bring that shit to their door.”

“You’re bringing it to yours.”

He shrugged. “Adelasia will be able to visit Elsa there. I can take care of this.”

“If Burton finds out, she’ll be out of a job.”

“I’ll take the rap for it if he does.”

I stared at him until he looked at me.

“Desperate circumstances make people desperate,” he said. “She’s not the kind of woman who steals for no reason.”

He was right. Roma went on about how much Ms. Lang loved what she did. She’d called her a career student, always wanting to learn. She didn’t seem like the type to steal, especially something that had such a rich history attached to it, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Those who couldn’t understand that had never missed a few meals or bill payments.

“You need to be smart about this,” I said. “You’re not dealing with average street criminals. This is personal to them.”

“That shit knocked Fredo the fuck out.” He shook his head. “He’s in bad shape.”

The doctor was concerned Fredo wasn’t responding to treatment. He was in the ICU, hooked up to a breathing machine, having a hard time. The doctor thought he might have inhaled more of it than everyone else, since he was so close to the motherfucker. Until they knew what was in the powder, they were fighting against a guessing game.

Questions fucking haunted me, the unanswered what ifs of the powder’s long-term side effects, but if I concentrated on them, I’d hurt someone. The uncertainty of it made something inside of me twist toward her room. I needed to be next to her.

Cassio sighed. “I don’t have all the answers yet, but when I do, I’ll form a plan to end this shit. She’s the only one in the world my kid can stand. Without her, Adelasia might turn into a sociopath or psychopath or some shit.” He looked at me. “Like you.”

I shook my head at him.

Emanuele Corvo came out of the room, setting his hat back on his head. He didn’t bother looking at me as he left.

I slipped back into Roma’s room. She was still sleeping. I grabbed her hand, settling in next to her, the twisting in my chest easing.

It was my fucking heart.

Chapter44

Roma

Felice stuck close to my side as we walked to Navy Pier from the penthouse.

The scene was a representation of our current lives. If I wasn’t at home, he was wherever I was. If he had business, I’d have to wait for him to finish before I left. I wanted to get back to work, but he wasn’t budging. He didn’t feel comfortable leaving me, even with his men.

He wasn’t familiar with this enemy, and until he was, I was on lockdown.

We fought about it. He won.

“You’re fucking beautiful when you pout,” he said, wrapping an arm around my neck, pulling me close. He kissed my temple.

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